Hilltoppers slug out 15 hits to beat neighborhood-rival Raiders

GLEN ELLYN – For much of the 2013 season, the Glenbard West baseball team has struggled to string hits together.

On Saturday, the Hilltoppers had arguably their best offensive output of the season outside their sweep of Proviso West, pounding out 15 hits in a 10-5 crosstown win over Glenbard South on senior day.

“It was good for us to swing the bats like we did,” said Glenbard West coach Brian Wojtun, whose team has eight seniors on the roster. “It was a great way to celebrate senior day.”

With the game tied at two-apiece, the home team sent 12 batters to the plate in the bottom of the fourth inning and plated seven runs. Grant Greeno provided the big blow with a three-run double.

That run support was more than enough for Dennis Rudolph, who allowed six hits and four earned runs in six innings of work.

For Glenbard South, Zach Smith had a pair of hits while scoring a run and Ethan Gasbarro added an RBI single.

“It’s not real complicated,” said Glenbard South coach Mike Riley. “They had 15 hits and we had six hits. It’s not hard to figure out why the score was 10-5. Give them credit, they had six hits in that fourth inning.”

Late last week, Glenbard South dropped two out of three games to Illiana Christian to fall out of a tie for first place in the Metro Suburban Conference.

The Raiders did win the finale by a 9-4 margin with Nick Yangas notching the win on the mound. Offensively, the squad scored four runs in each of the fourth and sixth innings.

The squad wraps up league play Thursday with the finale of a three-game series against Ridgewood before taking on Glenbard East in a nonconference matchup Friday.

“We are looking to build momentum going into the tournament,” Riley said.

Glenbard West was coming off a 4-3 loss to Willowbrook on Thursday and a 3-0 defeat at the hands of St. Francis on Saturday.

The Hilltoppers were scheduled to play Lake Park and Huntley on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

“We are playing great competition this week,” Wojtun said. “We like to play good competition to prepare for the playoffs. Like I told the kids, we want to be playing our best ball for the playoffs.”